Starting New Red Currant Bushes From Cuttings

Red Currants

One of my favorite plants to grow is red currants. I am not sure exactly why it is my favorite as I have struggled to get mine to grow in my current (:-) yard until this last year. There is something about the brown sticks pushing out their buds in the early spring and then the strings of green berries that slowly ripen into translucent balls of deep red beautifulness that just inspires me. On the other hand, I don't really enjoy picking them as they are small, somewhat hard to harvest and easily squished. But again, they are just beautiful!

A couple of years ago, I discovered the joy of propagating red currants from cuttings. Back then, my only experience was concord grapes and roses and so I tried using the same method. I would take a few hardwood cuttings in the fall when the plant was dormant and just lay them flat covered with about 6 inches of soil in a trench for the winter. Some springtime, I would unearth them and plant the ones with roots emerging. But that took a long time.

Strands of Ripe Currants

Now, I found through watching some gardeners in the UK that they simply chop off a few branches and place them  in a jar of water until they see white roots emerging. This method only takes a few weeks - not all winter.  

Here is my simple method that you can try at home if you or a friend has a currant bush (or gooseberry or jostaberry) and you want to increase your plant stock.

• Cut a branch off a healthy currant bush after a node, close to the base of the plant. 
• Cut the branch into 6-inch sections, each with at least two nodes, preferably three nodes. I cut flat at the top just after a node and angled at the bottom just before a node.
• Set the cuttings directly into water.*
• Place the container in a sunny but warm spot like a kitchen window or under a grow light for four to six weeks. Check the water periodically and refresh it if it becomes cloudy.
• Once the roots start to appear, transplant the rooted cutting into potting soil and keep moist until you see vigorous growth. 
• Plant outside in a permanent location in late fall or early spring.

*Alternatively, you can dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone and then place it directly into damp potting soil. Firm the soil around the cutting and water it before setting it in a sunny warm space.

Currants seem to need fertile soil with plenty of organic matter and only 6 hours or so of sunlight. I had one year with almost no growth on my bushes and then found after I applied a thick mulch of mushroom soil that they sprang to life and doubled in size. 

Red currant bush ready for picking with fresh ripe berries 

I don't do much to my currants other than mulch in the spring and then cut out three year old branches at their base during the winter. They are a nice easy addition to our permaculture garden and the beautiful berries sparkle on top of desserts on our morning cereal.  When I have an abundance of berries to harvest, I always have to figure out if I am going to freeze them as is, or make beautiful ruby red jelly,  or currant jam or even a red currant liqueur. Such a nice dilemma!

I do sell some of my successfully rooted Red Currant cuttings on my Etsy page, Wildflower Run, if you don't have a source for them.